Glacies Frost

I have two main issues in this episode, primarily. One is Diamond Tiara's mother, Spoiled Rich, who comes out of nowhere. However, since we rarely see Filthy Rich by himself, we can assume Spoiled is out and about being a socialite and all. We don't spend very much time in the school, nor do we see PTA or school board meetings, where Spoiled serves. Yeah, she comes out of nowhere, but we can easily rationalize that part away. The second part was the... general design of the cutie marks. While they do fit a theme and have their own uniqueness to each, they seem a bit too... uniform. Outside of that and things coming to a head a little too swiftly for my liking, the usual complaints about pacing and all that, the episode was at least enjoyable for me. They did their best given the time they had. Also, maiden name Spoiled Milk... that's just on-the-nose.

Where's the total indifference option? She's alright. She exists, she has episodes. She's aight.

And Lightning Dust is often seen as a bad role model and weaker version of Rainbow Dash with a different color scheme, more attitude, and less likeability. Had the writers given her any redeeming qualities, I'd be more apt to agree that it could be done, but shoehorning in a character without any buildup, and suddenly having them be better at everything than the character the episode is about, without any look into their personality, backstory, or otherwise, always tends to shoot the story in the foot. I can only speak from personal experience, and while Lightning Dust was a useful tool for having Rainbow Dash stand up for what was right against her superiors in the Wonderbolt Academy, she was neither a likeable character nor did she do anything that was particularly amazing, aside from landing on a max power Dizzitron. Had she ended up being able to perform a trick on par with the Rainboom, it may have stood out visually, I'll give you that, but it would have been much less impressive than seeing someone work hard toward it and push him/herself past their limits in order to do it. This can be done in a one shot episode, much like they did when they introduced Cheese Sandwich, but the episode absolutely has to focus on both Rainbow Dash and this other pony in equal measure. We must want to see this pony get pushed hard, surpass their previous limitations, and do something far beyond what even they or Rainbow Dash thought possible. This could be done in a couple of ways. I'll even give an example of an easy episode it can be done with. Rainbow could be put in charge of training a lackluster member of the Wonderbolt Reserves, perhaps someone we've met before, perhaps someone new. She could push them, train them, and see them slowly becoming better. As a final test or just for a bit of fun (or both, knowing Dashie) she could have them race her. The race is neck and neck, neither pony giving any headway to the other, when Rainbow does a Rainboom and takes her speed up to eleven. In desperation, out of sheer willpower, the other pony does their own "version" and breaks through, either barely losing to, tying with, or winning over Dashie. That would be an episode I'd watch where a new trick is discovered.

Having another pony do something would require an episode focusing on said character in order to build up any sort of suspense. The pony can't just show up, do this incredible feat no one's ever seen before, and then just suddenly be the gold standard. We need time to see them practicing, to get to know them as a character, to care about them.

The sonic rainboom is suffering from the exact same problem that the Super Saiyan transformation did in Dragon Ball Z. It's been done enough times that it becomes predictable that it's going to happen again eventually. Even increasing the number of rainbooms (or moonbows or whatever) would still render if predictable, safe, and boring. The answer isn't quite as obvious as just "add a second boom to the rainboom" to make it more special or interesting. DBZ tried that with the further Super Saiyan Transformations, and it didn't really do much. The scale of the fighting is what made it interesting. With Rainbow Dash, the rainboom being her signature maneuver might not be such a bad idea, but it should no longer be considered special inasmuch. I would love to see her develop a new technique, something that Equestria has never seen before that she's been working on since she perfected the sonic rainboom. For example, perhaps she'll develop a trick where she moves quickly back and forth while flying that she appears to be in two places simultaneously, or she could work with the trick coordinators to design a partner move with someone, something that she wouldn't be able to pull off alone.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, Blue, I thought that we had an understanding. *opens up pool full of sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads* Twilight is my waifu. But yeah, seriously, out of many fictional characters I've had crushes on, I would say that Twilight seems to be the one I'd actually get on with the best.